***
I raised my fist toward the tightly shut wooden door.
*Knock. Knock. Knock.*
After a few moments of hesitation, I gently knocked. Faint footsteps sounded from inside. As the footsteps grew closer, I took a deep breath. I tried to relax my stiff facial muscles, attempting to put on a natural expression.
Soon, the door opened, and I began to speak in a trembling voice.
"Le..."
*Slam!!*
The wooden door slammed shut fiercely in my face in an instant. The unexpected, intense impact sent me sprawling to the ground helplessly.
Barely clinging to my fading consciousness, I lifted my head, but the door remained tightly shut, motionless. I sprang to my feet and shouted in a trembling voice.
"Lea, it's me. I, from the Devil's Fangs... I came back alive."
A few seconds of silence passed. Breaking the suffocating stillness, a cold, dry voice, almost devoid of emotion, came from inside the door.
"Why are you here? You're just a stranger to me now, meaning nothing anymore. Go away."
"No..."
"What do you mean 'no'?"
The voice that reached me had become sharper and more irritable than before.
"I didn't come to turn our relationship back to how it was. I just..."
The more I spoke, the more my throat tightened. Something hot surged from within my chest, and my voice kept cracking. Through my blurring vision, I barely managed to squeeze out the words.
"Thank you... so much... for everything. I just came to say that."
Though the door was closed and we couldn't see each other's expressions, I tried my best to smile widely and put on the brightest face possible. If Lea ended up not opening the door, this would be the last impression I left her with. I just... forced a bright expression.
A moment later, as I turned to take my heavy steps away, the faint sound of the door slowly opening behind me tickled my ears.
*Creak...*
"...Come in."
I carefully stepped through the partially open door. Lea led me to a living room chair, saying, "I'll get some tea. Please wait a moment," and walked towards the kitchen.
I silently stared at Lea's matured back as she quietly brewed the tea, suddenly recalling Lea from our distant childhood. Now that I truly thought this was the end, old memories seemed to flash by like a panorama.
'So much time... has truly passed. Both for Lea and for me...'
Soon, Lea returned with two warm cups of tea, handing one to me. I respectfully accepted the teacup with both hands, and Lea quietly sat in the chair opposite me.
We sat facing each other very closely, but with the teacups between us, we said nothing for a long time. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth rashly, this would truly become our last conversation.
Embarrassingly, it was Lea who broke the silence first.
"The tea's getting cold. Drink it."
"...Oh."
*Slurp.*
With a comfortable warmth, a subtle and refreshing aroma filled my mouth.
"How is it?"
I pondered for a moment what Lea was asking. Should I talk about the future? Or should I express the honest feelings I was truly experiencing at this very moment? My mind became a tangled mess.
"The aroma isn't really my style, but it feels quite refreshing once I drink it."
"No, not that. You."
"...To be honest, I'm sad. I'm so depressed it makes me nauseous, and this situation feels so suffocating. I'm definitely... not feeling good. And so... now I think I understand a little. How big and precious you were to me while I was here, in this village..."
"So, you don't regret your choice to embark on an adventure?"
"...I don't know. Perhaps, countless regrets might flood in the future. Because of this choice, I might regret leaving your side for the rest of my life. But... no matter what, we must have self-determination. A life merely trapped in a framework set by others, following the path they've made... ultimately, that's not the story of my true 'self.' So... that's why I want to leave this narrow world and go forth into a new one with my own two feet."
The more I spoke, the more confident my voice became, revealing my firm conviction. My eyes held a strange glow, and my voice was clearer and more confident than ever. It was as if my true self, suppressed for so long, had finally broken free from its shell and begun to powerfully flap its wings.
Lea listened quietly to my words, then put on a calm expression and smiled faintly. However, her thinly trembling eyes seemed to be trying to hide an uncontrollable, deep sadness and regret.
"Then, I have one last request."
"What is it? Tell me anything. Whatever it is, if it's something I can do, I'll gladly grant it."
Facing her earnest gaze, I replied with a voice full of firm resolve. I felt as if I could grant anything Lea asked, no matter what her answer was. That was my will.
"From now on, I don't care where you go, what you see, or what you feel as you live your life."
"You don't care?"
"But in the end, come back to me. That's the ending I want."
Lea's voice pierced deep into my chest, delivering a sharp pain that felt like it had run straight through my heart. In that moment, countless suppressed emotions surged up all at once, and I ultimately shed an endless stream of hot tears. Mixed within the tears were a tender affection for Lea, the sorrow of parting, and a deep sense of gratitude and guilt for her earnest wish.
Lea, without hesitation, pulled my arm and gently held me in her warm, soft embrace. As always, when I was struggling, she silently stood by my side, offering warm comfort and unwavering support.
And so, I answered her final request.
'...I promise.'
Soft, cozy warmth completely enveloped my body. As if time in the world had stopped, we held each other tightly in that spot for a very long time, leaning into each other's warmth, sharing deep sorrow and tender emotions.
As time passed, I bid Lea my final farewell.
"Lea, goodbye. Please take care."
Taking heavy steps, I carefully opened the tightly closed house door and stepped out. As I exited the door, a cool breeze gently brushed past my cheek.
At that moment, I felt a chilling, damp sensation on my back, so I touched it. The clothes near my back were wet, as if soaked.
'Is it tears...?'
I strode forward powerfully. The more I did, the more the tears evaporating in the wind made my back feel even colder.
I ran faster and faster, wanting to feel that chill even more intensely.
Meanwhile, the faster I ran, the quicker the moisture on my back evaporated and soon disappeared.
Even so, I resolved never to forget that chilling sensation.
***
There, where thick white snow and ice had accumulated, people lay frozen, perfectly preserved in the exact state they were in at the moment of their death, as if time itself had stopped.
I carefully brushed away the solidified white snow with my hands, as if it were a precious artifact. Gradually, a human face buried beneath the snow was revealed. I meticulously dug away the surrounding snow and ice, finally managing to fully uncover the arms and legs.
"...It's been a long time."
*Whoosh—*
This was the Devil's Fangs, a place I had once conquered, but where I thought I would never set foot again.
***
Shortly after bidding farewell to Lea, I unexpectedly encountered Lea's father.
I found myself asking him the same question I'd been asking other villagers recently.
"By any chance, did you see a massive lightning strike a few days ago, so large it seemed to cover the entire sky near the Devil's Fangs?"
"Lightning, you say? I didn't see it. Perhaps... it only struck in your crazy head?"
"I guess it was just a dream, then."
"Anyway, if you're giving up on the mountain, what do you plan to do next? What kind of crazy stunt will you pull now?"
At his question, I felt a slight release of the heavy emotional lump that had been weighing on my chest. Filled with overwhelming anticipation for a new world, I answered brightly.
"I'm going to be an adventurer. From now on, I'll be an adventurer, freely roaming this vast world."
"Figures. I knew you'd say that."
"But before that, I first want to find the bodies slumbering on the Devil's Fangs and give them a proper burial under the warm sunlight."
"You're going to bring back all the corpses from the Devil's Fangs?"
"Yes, Father."
"Don't call me 'Father' like that. Just call me 'Van.' So, why on earth are you trying to do something so dangerous?"
The name "Van" that came from his lips felt strangely like a name I hadn't heard in a very long time, both unfamiliar and yet familiar.
"The Devil's Fangs has been experiencing a slight change in temperature since I conquered its summit. Perhaps the mountain was able to maintain its fierce cold due to the mysterious greatsword I obtained from the peak."
"That ice-spewing toy? When you launched that cowardly surprise attack on me last time, it didn't seem powerful enough to maintain the Devil's Fangs' bone-chilling low temperature, did it?"
"Well, there's a complicated story behind that. The sword's power has weakened. Anyway, once the ice and snow covering the Devil's Fangs start to melt, the bodies there will horribly decompose. Imagine countless gnats and maggots swarming over the corpses. And eventually, only bare white bones will be left scattered."
I couldn't even imagine the fallout of my actions causing others to suffer. When I committed eccentric acts in the future, I intended for the damage to affect only me. This wasn't because I was morally superior; it was purely because harming others felt worse to me than any joy I might gain.
"Or, the Mutans might climb higher and devour the corpses. So, I believe it's right to find all the bodies and respectfully bury them in the village graveyard or cremate them cleanly."
However, Van, who had been silently listening to my words, had a stern, displeased expression on his face.
"You're going to drag all that down? And on those treacherous mountain paths? Fine, if you want to play hero, I won't stop you, but the Devil's Fangs is, quite literally, a mountain where even moving is difficult if you're not a mountaineer. Moving frozen corpses one by one in a place like that means you'll have to handle all of it by yourself. How far do you think that work will go? Do you honestly think that's something you can take on alone?"
"No matter how long it takes, I don't care. I believe I must take responsibility for my actions."
"..."
"Wait a moment, just stay put there."
Van, who had been staring intently at my face, let out a small sigh as if deep in thought. A moment later, he strode towards Lea's house, which I had just left, and soon emerged with a small pouch, which he handed to me.
"This is a type of **treasure**. Though it looks small on the outside, it has a very spacious interior, capable of holding many things. Use this."
"Tr-treasure!? Were you an adventurer too, Van?"
"Something similar. I have several other kinds of treasures too."
"Well, since you're strong, Van, that makes sense."
"Me, strong?"
A subtly sarcastic smile flickered across Van's face. However, at the very edge of that smile, a somewhat bitter and pitiful emotion seemed faintly present.
"No. I'm never strong. Did I tell you before? That I lacked so much talent that I eventually gave up on my dream and fell into despair. There was no one by my side, but then, Lea appeared, and I was barely able to come to my senses."
"Yes, I heard."
"At that time, I desperately felt an insurmountable difference in power and a cruel, unbeatable limit. So I eventually gave up. But you?"
"Huh? Ah... yes..."
Only then did I realize Van's intention in bringing up this story.